Gary Smulyan is critically acclaimed as one of the major voices on the baritone saxophone today. As a teenager growing up on Long Island, Smulyan had the opportunity to perform with Lee Konitz, Chet Baker, and Jimmy Knepper.

In 1978 he was asked to join Woody Herman's Young Thundering Herd, which at that time included Joe Lovano, Marc Johnson and John Riley. He left Herman in 1980 and moved back to New York to join the Mel Lewis Jazz Orchestra led by Bob Brookmeyer. Smulyan has recorded and performed worldwide with Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Ray Charles, B.B. King, Tom Harrell. Cedar Walton, George Coleman, Joe Henderson, Joe Lovano, Tommy Flanagan, Chick Corea, Diana Ross, Clark Terry, Kenny Wheeler, Charles McPherson, James Moody and Slide Hampton, among others. He has recorded five CDs for the CrissCross label, including: The Lure of Beauty, Saxophone Mosaic (voted one of the best 25 CDs of 1995 by WBGO, New York's leading FM jazz station), Homage (featuring Tommy Flanagan), Gary Smulyan with Strings (selected as one of the 10 best jazz CDs of 1997 by the Boston Globe) and recently Blue Suite with Brass. Smulyan's new release, The Real Deal, on Reservoir Records is currently available.

Joey DeFrancesco © Andrea Canter

Over the few years, KBEM Radio and the Hot Summer Jazz Festival have combined forces to sponsor a one-day midwinter jazz festival. Over time the festival has moved from the old Dakota in St. Paul to the Millennium Hotel in downtown Minneapolis, finally to the west metro Doubletree Inn in March 2006. Finally, the winter jazz extravaganza returns to St. Paul as part of the first (hopefully annual) St. Paul Music Festival, February 23-25, centered around the historic Landmark Plaza in the center of downtown at 5^th and Market Streets. Three days of music should appeal to everyone’s taste—Rock Night on Friday, a full day of blues on Saturday, and a day-long jazz celebration on Sunday. Tickets are sold separately for each event (see below), with a discount for advance purchase.

Main events will take place in the heated “freespan” tent on Landmark Plaza, with seating for 500 and concessions (food, soft drinks, beer and wine). But the music doesn’t end there as festival tickets allow free entry to additional entertainment later each evening—more rock on Friday night at the 4^th Street Station, and a blues and jazz jam with the Tuesday Night Band at the Artists Quarter, Saturday and Sunday nights.

Joshua Redman

Trio Beyond with Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield and Larry Goldings

Théâtre Maisonneuve, PDA A trio of virtuosi

Thursday, June 28, 6 p.m.

Marcus Miller

(St. Louis –December 11, 2006) World-class talent has teamed up with a world-class cruise for the inaugural sailing of the North Sea Jazz Cruise Hosted By Marcus Miller. Jazz Cruises, LLC, the foremost and only producer of full-charter luxury jazz cruises and musical host Grammy® Award winning musician/composer/producer Marcus Miller, in conjunction with the North Sea Jazz Festival program department, have announced the initial talent line-up for this maiden voyage. The dazzling array of talent features the most celebrated and legendary jazz musicians, composers and vocalists of our time. They include: vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater and her trio, saxophonist James Carter, trumpeter Roy Hargrove and his quintet, the Roberta Gambarini Quartet, guitarist Lionel Loueke, The McCoy Tyner Trio, Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood and saxophonists David Sanborn and Kirk Whalum. They will join cruise guests aboard the world-class Holland America’s m/s Rotterdam, named “2006 Ship of the Year” by the World Ocean and Cruise Line Society, departing from Copenhagen July 5, 2007. Following a breathtaking seven day voyage with ports-of-call in Warnemunde/Berlin, Germany; Gotenburg, Sweden; Oslo Norway; Hamburg-Elbe River/Germany, the ship will dock in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and serve as a “floating hotel” for the prestigious North Sea Jazz Festival July 13 – 15, stay in port in the Netherlands and conclude on July 17.